A council worker cleans the statue to Britain's Queen Victoria that was defaced in the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria in Melbourne on Jan 25, 2024, ahead of Australia Day. (PHOTO / AFP)

SYDNEY — Two statues of colonial figures were vandalized overnight in the Australian city of Melbourne, ahead of a contentious national holiday on Friday marking the arrival of the British fleet that colonized the country more than 200 years ago.

A statue of British explorer James Cook, who mapped the east coast of Australia and claimed it for Britain, was cut at the ankles and defaced in St Kilda in south Melbourne. A second statute of the British Queen Victoria was also daubed in paint.

The holiday is celebrated by many Australians with barbecues and day trips to the beach, and is also a popular date for immigrants to receive their Australian citizenship

"This sort of vandalism really has no place in our community," said Jacinta Allan, premier of Victoria state of which Melbourne is the capital.

READ MORE: Thousands join 'Invasion Day' protests on Australia Day holiday

Australia Day is marked annually on 26 January, commemorating the day that Britain established the state of New South Wales in the east as a penal colony in 1788.

The holiday is celebrated by many Australians with barbecues and day trips to the beach, and is also a popular date for immigrants to receive their Australian citizenship.

But many other Australians, particularly among the Indigenous community who have inhabited the island for tens of thousands of years, see the date as offensive because it commemorates their loss of sovereignty, and thousands are expected to protest across the nation on Friday.

Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins, one of the country's most popular sportsmen, has led calls to change the date of Australia Day - something the ruling Labor party led by Anthony Albanese has ruled out.

READ MORE: Protests, citizenship festivities to mark contentious Australia Day

Many companies in Australia now allow employees to mark the holiday on another day, while retailers including supermarket chain Woolworths have scaled back the sale of Australia Day merchandise for what they say are commercial reasons, leading to calls for a boycott from opposition leader Peter Dutton.